Message from the Dean

HKUMed is the highest-ranked medical school not only locally but nationally, and has been consistently placed amongst the top three in Asia and top 30 in the world.

The reason for this is simple: we continually strive to do better, in teaching and learning as well as in research and discovery. We work hard to give our students meaningful, enriching experiences. We also work hard to ensure that education at HKUMed covers the most important, cutting-edge aspects of medicine and health.

Our six undergraduate programmes cover four registered professions – medicine (MBBS), nursing (BNurs), Chinese medicine (BChinMed) and pharmacy (BPharm) – and two fundamental groups of disciplines in biomedical sciences (BBiomedSc) and global health and development (BASc). These programmes each provide different career paths in biomedicine and health science, whether they be patient-based, in the laboratory or in developing new policies and approaches to address the complex and ever-evolving challenges facing the world today. Students can therefore take the path that is most suited to their interests and abilities.

Within each programme, there is ample opportunity to explore and grow. We have given considerable thought and effort to modernising the medical curriculum as part of our effort to provide students with the best learning experience. The most significant change has been HKUMed’s world-first introduction of the Enrichment Year during the third year of study, which allows students to take full charge of their own learning and pursue interests that broaden exposure beyond the strict confines of clinical medicine.

Another feature of our curricula concerns inter-professional education, bringing together students from different disciplines within HKUMed, as well as those from other local universities, to work together. This prepares students from a very early stage for the reality in the wards and the community whereby doctors, nurses, pharmacists etc work in teams to achieve the best outcomes for patients.

The wonderful potential of new technology has also been embraced at HKUMed, not only in terms of the revolutionary advances it brings to healthcare, but to learning itself. HKUMed has been rolling out innovative blended-learning approaches to complement conventional classes and small-group tutorials. Our students can make use of e-lectures, video demonstrations, online quizzes, discussion fora and the like to adapt their learning to their own schedules and preferred learning styles, and reinforce their knowledge. We also have advanced simulation labs for learning and practicing clinical skills. The human touch will always be our priority, but learning technology means we are better able to monitor and respond to each student’s needs.

HKUMed prides itself on admitting high-quality students from all walks of life. In fact, we strive to have a diverse student body, in which every individual brings something distinct to their learning and profession. This means we not only can produce graduates who cater to the wide-ranging needs of patients, but we can also enrich our students’ education by exposing them to diversity and learning to respect differences.

Any student who has outstanding academic achievement, curiosity, passion and a caring attitude is a good candidate for our Faculty and HKU, where our spectrum of options and innovative education can set you on a path towards a meaningful career serving the needs of Hong Kong, the region and the world. I encourage you to fully explore these wonderful opportunities for yourself. And I look forward to seeing you around campus!

Professor Gabriel M Leung
Dean of Medicine